Chapter 156: First example of tradition

Abe reached Cartago after a full day's drive. The city was more than 1200 kilometers away from Serapode, the capital of Odaria where the Jersey family resided, so even driving at 100 km/h he took hours to reach it. Once there he made his way to what he knew was the expedition center in the forest. Anyone wishing to enter the uncolonized area had to register there, provided he wanted to do something legal. But of course, Abe knew that there were other ways to go into the deep forest. Once inside he already knew who his target was. He quickly walked over to a skinny man who was playing with his cell phone leaning against a wall. "Hello, my name is Abe" he introduced himself. "Carver" the man grumbled without looking up. "What do you want?" "Join next week's expedition" Abe answered. Carver finally looked at him, and his gaze was not good. "It's an exclusive government-funded expedition, man. Few well-armed people will go and outsiders are not allowed. Go away, I doubt the bosses would like to know what you're asking" "Maybe, but the bosses don't necessarily have to know, do they?" Abe asked, opening his pockets. A wad of money was clearly visible. Abe had spent years in third world countries and knew how to deal with those people. Bribing an officer wasn't a big deal. In fact, Carver's eyes lit up when they saw the wad. "Come on, eye doesn't see, heart doesn't hurt, or not? Two extra arms would be useful to you guys. I can carry heavy loads and know how to use weapons. I'm a good element to add" Carver clicked his tongue, then reached out his hand. "Okay, man, you're in" he said with a smile. "I will pass you off as a special guard that the others have not been informed of. Nobody will ask many questions. Make up a story and a good resume and everything will be fine" "Good" Abe said taking the wad. Carver waited for him to hand it to him, but to his chagrin Abe only gave him half. "You'll have the other part when we get back from the expedition" Abe pointed out. He knew that if Carver got all the money right away he would have no problem reporting him and pocketing the reward as well. In fact, the man shook his head. "I see you're not inexperienced" he murmured. "Have you already dealt with many people?" "More than you can imagine" Abe answered. "Believe me, I have a lot of imagination. Okay, I like you. Show up at base camp tomorrow and make sure your story holds up. As for room and board, arranged" Carver concluded, and then looked down and went back to playing with the cell phone. Abe took his advice and walked out of the building, only to quickly disappear down the street. ********** "Apache, lower your head" The quetzalcoatlus obeyed, bowing until it nearly touched the ground with its beak. Sobek dipped his claws in the dye and being very careful not to injure the pterosaur's skin, he drew something on his forehead. "With this, I appoint you as air commander. From now on you will need to form a legion of pterosaurs only and train them to fight in the sky. In the previous days I have revealed to you everything I know about human planes; the rest is in your hands" As he spoke those words, Sobek bestowed on Apache the title of 'air commander' through the [Contract]. The boosts that this title gave were not few: speed increased by 120% and strength by 70%, plus intelligence and strategic ability by 50%. It is no coincidence that the moment he raised his head Apache immediately felt that there was something different in him, feeling more powerful and smarter. Sobek still had many titles to be awarded; apart from Buck and Old Li he hadn't mentioned anyone else. Unfortunately, however, there were roles that he absolutely needed a commander. Sobek didn't have wings, so he couldn't train pterosaurs to fight military aircraft. He needed someone to fill that role, and Apache was the solution: not only was he extremely efficient, smart and strong, and very large (he was still one of the largest pterosaurs ever!), but he had also recruited most of the pterosaurs. They appreciated him and trusted him. Apache was therefore the best choice for the role of air commander at the time. The quetzalcoatlus turned proudly towards the audience, composed mainly of pterosaurs but also a fair number of dinosaurs. All of them screamed his name and admired the symbol on his forehead. Sobek had in fact decided to introduce a way to identify his direct subordinates. This is because the dinosaurs might not have recognized them right away. The animals only respected strength, so there were no problems with Buck; but if one day he had named after him a velociraptor, then during the battle the dinosaurs might not recognize him as their commander and thus find themselves without a leader. A way was therefore needed to identify his direct helpers. Dinosaurs couldn't read grades and didn't have pins, so Sobek had turned to an old Native American trick: dye. In reality it wasn't his idea: it was Blue's idea. Creating natural dye was easy: nature was full of ingredients to create a dye. Therefore drawing symbols on the heads of his representatives was the solution to his problems: in that way the dinosaurs would immediately know if someone was above them, regardless of how strong he seemed. Sobek hadn't thought of this before because he was convinced that dinosaurs would not be able to recognize symbols, but since their intellectual abilities seemed to have reached at least the level of crows and crows, it was worth a try. So it turned out to be a system that worked. Sobek had wondered how far this kind of 'brain boost' that all dinosaurs were undergoing could go; perhaps in the not too distant future he might even introduce a primitive form of writing or even mathematics. While they weren't essential to an army, their introduction would have greatly improved strategy and long-distance communication. He had decided to divide his army according to the symbols: sun, moon and stars. He, of course, since he was the pack leader, was the sun: a red circle studded with rays had been drawn on his forehead. Those who would have been his twelve direct followers would have instead been tattooed with the moon using silver dye; moreover, to better distinguish them around the moon, an additional symbol would have been drawn that would have identified their occupation. To make it clear, Buck had a moon surrounded by two gaping jaws, the symbol of the assault commander; Old Li had a moon surrounded by a brain, a symbol of intelligence and therefore of the counselor; and Apache, the latest arrival, had a moon surrounded by two wide open wings, the symbol of the air commander. All the other dinosaurs instead would have had a star drawn on their foreheads, thus identifying them as simple soldiers. However, those who would stand out in battle would receive lines on their cheeks. The lines would have been at most four (two for each cheek) and would have identified the dinosaur for its efficiency, strength, courage and heroism. In this way, not only would the dinosaurs receive prestige while rising in rank, but Sobek and the commanders could easily identify the most deserving people for certain missions. It was in fact a meritocratic system, where the more you asserted yourself, the more you were recognized. Sobek didn't have time to tattoo all the dinosaurs in his army, but he had Blue that did the job for him. She chose a group of other small dinosaurs and she taught them what to do. They prepared the dye and drew symbols on the dinosaurs' faces. Sobek would only be present in important cases, such as that of Apache. Sobek liked that idea, and even the dinosaurs didn't seem to mind. That method gave the image that they possessed some kind of culture that held them together. Even if Sobek couldn't know yet, those symbols on the faces would become the first, true example of the dinosaur tradition, which would continue to use them for centuries and centuries. Seeing Apache begin to train the other pterosaurs in the air, Sobek felt satisfied. However, the day was destined to improve: that day the first armor built by the Neanderthals would arrive. Of course the Neanderthals, being a primitive people, had taken a long time to make just one, and besides, it wasn't even made entirely of metal but had many parts in wood and lianas. Still, it was enough for Sobek. The spinosaurus kept a constant eye on the Neanderthals with his sentries, so as soon as he saw them complete the job he sent a quetzalcoatlus to pick up the armor. Obviously the pterosaur had passed off as the envoy of the Great King of the Forest; Sobek could have reused Cobra, but it seemed strange to him that a deity would always send the same servant to do chores, so he decided to change in order to not arouse suspicion. The armor that the Neanderthals had made was for a triceratops, but from the point of view of the [Armor system] it applied to all ceratopsids. With it, Sobek created numerous armor that were delivered to Buck's assault legion. Since the ceratopsids would have been the first line, that armor would have been very useful. The armor increased defense by 400%, while also improving resistance to fatigue, heat, cold, and dehydration. It meant that even if they were hit by a small missile they would not be destroyed, and that the ceratopsids could maintain their usual movements without experiencing fatigue from the added weight. Ceratopsid armor covered the entire upper body and lined the legs and tail with hyperdense metal plates. The muzzle, already armored by him, was covered by a plate that left absolute mobility to the dinosaur but protected it very well, and in addition it gave it another three additional horns. The eyes were protected with a sheet of glass and the belly was protected by an armor tied to the upper part by strong ligaments. A triceratops or a stegosaurus in that armor would have given nightmares even to Godzilla, Sobek thought jokingly. Let alone a full-grown sauropod. His army would have been a truly walking fortress. Sobek hoped that the Neanderthals would have soon completed the armor for tyrannosaurids and abelisaurids too, thereby fortifying most of the carnivores in his army. Unfortunately, however, time wasn't on his side: it was destined that the unexpected would have put a hand in it. After all, if there was something Sobek had learned in his life, it was that when everything seems to be all right, then something will inevitably go wrong.